Gregory Palamas

Gregory Palamas (c. 1296–1359) was a Byzantine monk and theologian. Emperor Andronikos II helped raise him in Constantinople; he rejected government service and in 1316, barely twenty-one, withdrew to Mount Athos. Turkish raids drove him to Thessalonica in 1326, where he was ordained priest.

From 1336 he defended Hesychast teaching on the uncreated light and the distinction between God's essence and energies against Barlaam of Calabria and others. Patriarch John XIV imprisoned him in 1344. Released in 1347 and made archbishop of Thessalonica, he could take his see only in 1350.

In 1354 Turkish pirates captured his ship, and he spent a year at the Ottoman court before being ransomed. His last words are recorded as “To the heights!”. He died in 1359 and was canonized in 1368.